Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Tasty Tuesdays: Pioneer Woman's Monkey Bread

As you may have read last week, we had a full house this weekend.  Two of my brothers-in-law and their wives and my roommate from college and her hubby came down to Beaufort to celebrate the Fourth of July.  From the moment the first group hit the ground in Beaufort we were going, going, going. 

With so much to see and do, I tried to have a menu planned for the weekend that would provide us with tasty meals that are easy to make.  I wanted dishes that could come together quickly so that we didn't have to center our plans around me having to get back to the kitchen.  Mostly though, I wanted dishes that would fill our house with scents that reminded our guests of home - cinnamon and sugar, baking pie crust, warm blueberries.  I wanted them to wake up each morning excited to see what that day's breakfast would bring them.

My favorite dish from the weekend was a recipe for Monkey Bread from The Pioneer Woman's website.  This could not have been easier to make, and let me tell you if there was ever a dish that deserved a scratch and sniff feature on your computer, this is that dish! 

You start the bread by quartering three rolls of Pillsbury biscuits.  The quarters are then dusted lightly in a cinnamon sugar mixture and added in layers to a bundt pan.  I did three even layers, and it was the perfect amount since they will rise in the oven.  These three steps could certainly be done in advance and left in the fridge overnight if you are really in a hurry to say get to a tailgate or morning brunch.  The final step before baking requires the preparation of an easy caramel sauce made by melting butter and brown sugar together until they form a nice syrup.  Pour this delish sauce directly over the layers of cinnamon sugar biscuit quarters and bake for 40 minutes. 

The only caution I will give you is that once your guests taste this amazing creation, you will likely be hosting them much more often. 
Pastor Ryan’s Monkey BreadPrep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 8

Ingredients
3 cans Buttermilk Biscuits (the Non-flaky Ones)
1 cup Sugar
2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) Cinnamon
2 sticks Butter
½ cups Brown Sugar

Preparation Instructions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Open up all three cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters.

Next, combine the white sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon. (3 teaspoons of cinnamon gives it a fairly strong cinnamon flavor. If you’re not so hot on cinnamon, cut it back to 2 teaspoons.) Dump these into a 1 gallon zip bag and shake to mix evenly.

Drop all of the biscuit quarters into the cinnamon-sugar mix. Once all the biscuit quarters are in the bag seal it and give it a vigorous shake. This will get all those pieces unstuck from one another and nicely coated with cinnamon-sugar. Spread these nuggets out evenly in the bundt pan.

At this point, you’re going to want to melt the two sticks of butter together with ½ cup of brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. This can be light or dark brown sugar. Cook butter/sugar mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, you can pour it over the biscuits.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the crust is a deep dark brown on top. When its finished cooking, remove it from the oven. If you have the willpower, allow it to cook for about 15-30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate.

17 comments:

  1. That sounds like a perfect Christmas morning breakfast!

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  2. Oh yum. I really, really, really miss monkey bread and cinnamon rolls. They do not have a gluten free option (to my knowledge). Gluten free baking is usually so dense since non-gluten flours don't really 'puff' up much. So I think I just need to accept the fact that treats like this area a thing of my past.

    My family likes to eat them with peanut butter on them. It's something we learned from my late grandpa. So, so, so good!

    I can't wait to have a house some day so I can actually HOST guests. I will occasionally have my parents spend the night, but that's it since my hot box of a condo only has one bedroom... Someday!

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  3. That looks amazing! Guess we southern girls think alike because I made one just last week for the family for breakfast during the 4th! So delicious but we call ours Pull apart bread! Funny huhg? Guess because you pull it off? Love it and love u!

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  4. Oh my goodness. That monkey bread looks SOOOO yummy!! I've never made that before but now is as good of time as any!!!!!!!! :D

    Make sure to come enter my Stella and Dot giveaway when you get the chance!!!
    http://sweetsoutherncupcakes.blogspot.com/2010/07/stella-and-dot-giveaway.html

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  5. YUM!! Monkey bread is so delicious!! Haven't had any in years!! Looks great :)

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  6. i love monkey bread!
    thanks for this easy-peasy recipe... g'teed to put an early-morning smile on my muffy's face!

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  7. Love Monkey Bread.......so good

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  8. That looks so good! Made with buttermilk biscuits too, so easy!

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  9. You and I are alike when it comes to guests! I LOVE making lots of food for them too. I have to say I've never made MB before (don't pass out!) but I promise, when the fam comes in a few weeks, this is the first thing I make for them!! :-)

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  10. I can eat a whole loaf of monkey bread myself! Yum!

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  11. Wow, this looks incredible!!! Can't wait to try this!

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  12. Yum!!! I will be trying this out SOON! That looks delicious, Jen!

    xoxo

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  13. Okay, that looks so good. Just looking at that photo makes my mouth water. My family will go crazy over this bread. I'm off to the store to buy the biscuits in a little while. Thanks for sharing!

    I left you an award on my blog. Come by when you get a chance! :)

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  14. Ummm...Yum-O!!! I'm not sure if I should thank you or curse you for sharing this recipe....it sounds delicious and I can't wait to try it. My hips don't stand a chance with all the yummy recipes you post.

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  15. I love this! I used to make it all the time, but my bf overindulged and now refuses to eat it, ha ha! It's so quick and easy though and everyone loves it!

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  16. i grew up on monkey bread!! congratulations, cousin:) xoxoxo

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